Plastic Vials for loading?

[dikman]

It is a pre-requisite with the BP club I shoot with that all BP powder charges are individually pre-packed for loading at the firing line (some use brass cartridge cases with plastic caps, plastic phials, the blood serum tubes etc). No loading from flasks (other than priming for flintlocks) is allowed, nor any re-filling of containers from powder bottles (this must be done well away from the firing line, in a designated safe area). At first I though this was a bit over-the-top, but now it's become second nature, so much so that although the pistol club I joined doesn't have such strict requirements I feel much happier using this system.

As for what I use, I have screw-cap phials for the rifle (60 gns) and smaller flip-top tubes for the pistol (25 gns). The smaller tubes are 2 ml. centrifuge tubes, and cost me a whopping $6 for 100 (delivered). Ebay really is useful at times :wink:. I use a cheap $20 powder thrower (same as the Lee unit) and weigh the charges on a small digital scale until the adjustment is right. Once it's set I don't need to weigh each one and it doesn't take long to fill a batch of tubes. The thrower keeps it within 0.4 gn at the worst, which is good enough for me.

I use a loading stand (also required at the range) and the small tubes pour fine without needing a funnel.

Oh, and I've had no problems with static thus far (nor do I expect to).

 

[FishDFly]

All very good safety practices, some might not agree, but I do. I know one guy who brings all of his powder pre-measured for a 1,000 point match.

There is value in shooting at clubs.

I was at a match when the guy next to me shot a hole in the bill of his ball cap while going to the line. He forgot the do not cap until on the line part. He has not forgotten since.

 

[dondiego]

DD4lifeusmc - You may have seen powder ignite while being poured but it wasn't from static buildup. You can't ignite BP with static electricity. I have tried many times and the little spark just isn't hot enough.

Don

 

[dikman]

He was fortunate that it was only the bill of his cap! Yes, capping (and priming flintlocks) can only be done at the firing line, and when carrying pistols from the loading area to the firing line they should be held by the barrel, pointing up.

I still remember when I first started visiting the club, only a few months ago (to see what this BP stuff was all about) how strange/weird/over-the-top some of their practices appeared to me. It took a while, but as I became more familiar with the guns involved, and noticed how serious these people were about them, I realised that while safe handling of firearms was part of the firearms licence course I did years ago, I actually still had a lot to learn, judging by how the club operated.

The Firearms licencing course here does not actually prepare one for safe use of BP firearms, I see now. It is all about modern weapons. I'm sure that many will consider the operating procedures I've mentioned as unnecessarily complex, but we are dealing with primitive firearms, without modern safety features and using an actual high explosive as the propellant!

One can't be too careful, so yes, using plastic phials for carrying charges is, in my opinion, a bloody good idea!